Summit Sessions is an ongoing educational series for nannies, educators, newborn care specialists, and other private service professionals who gather monthly for inspiring and cutting-edge experts and leaders in their fields, who will offer their expertise in the form of live, interactive sessions for attendees to take in, ask questions of, and learn from.
In this upcoming session on April 17th at 10:30 am PST//1:30 pm EST, we are thrilled to welcome Henriette Selestine, founder of Mama Let’s Read. Join us for this engaging webinar to learn about why reading racially diverse stories with positive BIPOC characters is important for us to do with the children in our lives. We will learn more about why reading books that provide windows, as well as books that provide mirrors, are so important. Additionally, Henriette will teach us how one can discern ‘good’ books versus books that perpetuate harmful stereotypes. Join us for this cost-free educational webinar on April 17th, you can register using the link below.
About The Presenter:
Henriette lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and their three small kids. She is a biracial Black mom sharing diverse children’s books with positive Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) characters her family loves.
Prior to becoming a parent, Henriette completed a Master’s degree in International Multicultural Education with a concentration in Human Rights Education. Her goal as a community member is to do her part in eliminating inequities and cultural deficit narratives about BIPOC. As a parent, it quickly became clear to Henriette that all children’s books with BIPOC characters did not portray characters positively, and many even perpetuated negative racial stereotypes.
One Black history month, she started sharing a different children’s book every day featuring positive Black characters. After receiving enthusiastic support from friends and family, Henriette decided to share these book reviews publicly and officially start Mama Let’s Read.
To learn more about our presenter, please take a look at her website, Instagram, and Facebook!
Learn How To:
In this presentation, we will focus on why reading racially diverse stories with positive BIPOC characters is important for us to do with the children in our lives. Henriette will share with us why reading books that provide windows, as well as books that provide mirrors, are so important. Additionally, we will explore how one can discern “good” books versus books that perpetuate stereotypes. Lastly, Henriette will be sharing some of her family’s favorites.
In this session we’ll discuss the following points:
- If all the books your child reads have white main characters, you are perpetuating white supremacy.
- Mirrors: Children naturally gravitate towards self-affirming stories where they see themselves.
- Windows: Children need stories where they can see people of all races be human.
Check These Resources:
- For incredible book recommendations and excellent resources, check out Mama Let’s Read.
- Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s 1990 article: https://scenicregional.org/wp-
content/uploads/2017/08/ Mirrors-Windows-and-Sliding- Glass-Doors.pdf - We Need Diverse Books https://diversebooks.org/
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